Hartford Street Zen Center | Issan-ji temple
A Sōtō Zen temple for the LGBTQ+ community, friends and allies in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood
Please join us this Saturday, 28 July, for a talk by our Prior, Rev. David. He was ordained by Issan Dorsey, the founder of our temple, in 1990, and is one of the original members of the Hartford Street Sangha. He was also deeply involved in Issan’s establishment of the Maitri AIDS Hospice, and has for years been a treasured gardener. We’ll have zazen as usual at 9:25 a.m., with the talk following at 10:15, and tea-and-cookies afterwards. Everyone is welcome.
Please join us for a Dharma talk by Rev. Steven, a student of Rev. Dairyu Michael Wenger, and who is a clinical psychologist and frequent consultant to 12-step programs, as well as group facilitator for the Issan-ji community. We’ll have zazen (seated meditation) as usual at 9:25, with the talk to follow, and afterwards tea and cookies will be on offer in the living room. Everyone is welcome!
Jokei Molly Delight Whitehead trained at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center before ordaining with Shohaku Okumura in 2011. She has edited several of Okumura Roshi’s books, most recently The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo. She’s currently working with Okumura Roshi on a translation/commentary on Dogen’s complete waka poems.
In the tradition of voluntary homelessness, Jokei Molly has been a citizen of about a dozen locales, including Boston, New York, Indiana, Maine, Tokyo, and now Oakland. She has worked variously as a financial analyst, newspaper editor, corporate communications writer, English teacher, and Sunday School teacher.
Jokei Molly enjoys sitting monthly sesshins in the “no toys” style of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi and recently contributed a chapter to the book Boundless Vows, Endless Practice, published last month by the Dogen Institute. She wholeheartedly welcomes visitors to her blog at polishingthemoon.com.
Zazen (meditation) instruction for beginners will be held at 8:30am, followed by a period of zazen at 9:25, the dharma talk at 10:15, and sangha tea time after that (around 11:00.) All are welcome for any or all of the morning program.
Rev. Hōkai was ordained as a priest last year at Issanji and currently works as a hospice chaplain in Palo Alto. He is a former resident of our temple as well as Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara, and has practiced Buddhism in various forms for more than 20 years.
Zazen (meditation) instruction for beginners will be held at 8:30am, followed by a period of zazen at 9:25, the dharma talk at 10:15, and sangha tea time after that (around 11:00.) All are welcome for any or all of the morning program.
Koshin Steven Tierney, EdD, LPCC is Professor of Counseling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. A licensed psychotherapist and certified addiction specialist, he is the co-founder of the San Francisco Mindfulness Foundation, creating and delivering therapy and services in the areas of recovery and life transitions. Steven has been studying and practicing Buddhism for more than 20 years. He was ordained by Dairyu Michael Wenger and served as shuso in 2013.
Zazen (meditation) instruction for beginners will be held at 8:30am, followed by a period of zazen at 9:25, the dharma talk at 10:15, and sangha tea time after that (around 11:00.) All are welcome for any or all of the morning program.
This Saturday’s dharma talk will be a Way-Seeking Mind talk given by one of the members of our community.
A Way-Seeking Mind talk is an opportunity for anyone in the sangha to tell their story of how their life led them to the Buddhist path, what practice has taught them, and how they experience the Dharma, in and open-ended format which is often relatable, funny, moving, and inspiring. Everyone, especially newcomers, are welcome to attend, and there will be tea and cookies after the talk as usual.
Please join us this Saturday morning for a Dharma talk by Rev. Ryuei, Michael McCormick, who was ordained in the Nichiren-shū in 2001 by Rev. Ryusho Matsuda, of the San Jose Nichiren Temple.
Rev. McCormick is also a long-time practitioner of zazen (seated meditation) and a student of the writings of Dōgen-zenji.
Saturday Schedule (please join for any or all):
6:30am – Zazen
7:10 – Morning Service
7:25-7:35 – Soji
8:30 – Zazen Instruction (for beginners)
9:25 – Zazen
10:15 – Dharma Talk
11:00 – Sangha Tea Time
Zenshin Greg Fain was ordained by Sojun Mel Weitsman in 2002, and received dharma transmission in 2012. Greg is married and serves as tanto (head of practice) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Greg has been studying and practicing Yoga for the past six years, and now considers it an essential part of his daily practice. “The more I practice zazen (seated meditation) the more I realize how completely this is body practice, and how yoga supports the body to be present for the practice.”